Vinny VAN Gogh at KOA in New Mexico, USA

My daughter wrote off my 2009 Honda Civic in 2022. I couldn’t even get upset because I had told myself that when it was time to replace my car, I was getting a van that I could convert for wild camping. What a grand opportunity to replace it with a van!

Vinny VAN Gogh

If you have followed me for a while, you know that I pay cash for cars and I don’t buy new. It just isn’t where I want to spend my money. I haven’t had a car payment in more than a decade and I don’t plan to start now.

I bought a second hand 2012 Dodge Caravan with stow-away seats.

Sweetie built a platform, we bought a real 3/4 mattress (we’re old – comfort matters), and Vinny VAN Gogh was born!

If you are interested in the build and how much it cost you can read about it in this note. We did not damage the van floor or walls or do anything that would hurt resale value with our conversion.

Should You Convert Your Van???

Since then we have had adventures near and far, chauffeured by Vinny VAN Gogh.

Riverbanks, festivals, beaches, waterfalls, national parks, attractions, and a 3-week cross-continent road trip from New Brunswick, Canada to New Mexico, USA and back have all been on the itinerary.

We are even planning our wedding north of the artic circle and we are taking Vinny to get there!! (Honeymoon in North Pole, Alaska anyone?)

When we are travelling, many people have come up to us and told us they would love to convert a van. It’s an idea that many people are flirting with.

I always wonder what’s stopping them?

After owning a van converted for camping for two years and having countless adventures I have lots to say about the idea.

Spoiler: if this is something you are interested in doing, you 100% should do it. Read on to find out why!

1. Functions As A Car

You need to have a vehicle anyway, so why not a van?

Sure we use it for camping (and other adventures), but I also drive it to work every day.

Our set-up is simple and nothing is permanent. We haven’t damaged the van in any way or hurt the resale value. It takes 15 minutes and two screws to set it up or take it apart.

We took out all of the stow away seats to use the stow spaces for storage. You could easily leave the front row of seats in place and still transport 4 people when not set up for camping without impacting your storage capacity very much.

2. Adventures On A Budget

Mini-van camping is an awesome way to explore on a budget.

We don’t always want to do the same thing. We like to wild camp, hike, go out on the town, visit beaches, attend festivals, do wine tours, try new restaurants…you get the idea. Anything goes!

We have done all this (and more) in Vinny VAN Gogh without having to dish out for hotel rooms, leaving more bucks for fun!

3. Travel More Often

We also don’t like waiting for annual leave to get away.

Sure it’s nice to have two or three weeks off and go on a grand adventure, but it’s even better to add to that weekend getaways and overnight adventures on the regular.

4. No Planning Required

We have reached that age and stage of life where we don’t have a lot of commitments. The kiddos are grown and my parents are still doing well.

Now is the time to decide on a Saturday morning that we are heading out!

We don’t have to worry if we can find accommodations or care that everything was booked up months ago. We don’t even need to know where we are going. Often, we are truly winging it!

In the summers, we keep the van packed up. Throw in food, clothes, and us and we are ready to hit the road!

5. Comfort

Before we had Vinny we still went lots of places, but we used to tent camp.  Camping can be great, but sometimes – NOT!

This is my laundry list of gripes about tenting.

• Rainy nights are never great in a tent. You inevitably touch the walls of the tent inviting in moisture.
• You always seem to wake up hot and unable to breath the moment the sun hits the tent.
• We can put a man on the moon, but for some unknown reason we can’t make an air mattresses that stays firm all night long. Thank goodness the astronauts don’t need air mattresses.
• It is impossible to keep the mosquitos out of the tent. All it takes is one…and your night is over.
• The weather really does need to be perfect. Not too hot and not too cold.
• You are sleeping on the ground. Enough said!

None of these things bothered me in my 20’s and 30’s, but in my 50’s I like to be comfortable.

We have a real mattress in our van. What luxury!  Rain or shine we are perfectly comfortable.

6. Go Where The Sun Shines

More than once, when faced with a “blah” summer weekend we have looked at the weather radar and just drove to the sunniest places to see what fun we could find.

No need to be stuck inside when a two hour drive north puts you into sunshine!

7. Escape The Heat

We seem to get more and more VERY hot summer days. The type of days when it is almost unbearable to step outside.

We go back to the weather radar method of looking for the coolest locations.

Luckily, living on the East Coast of Canada, there are a lot of options near the ocean that are always many degrees cooler and always have a cool ocean breeze.

Beach camping anyone?

8. Extend Camping Season

We have found that we can comfortably camp in the van even when it is pretty cool out.

We took the van on a road trip to New Mexico at Christmas time. We had a lot of ground to cover that wasn’t the lovely temperatures of the southern states.

We found we could sleep comfortably even at temperatures as low as 1 – 3 degrees Celsius by warming up the van before we turned in for the night.  Once you are tucked in bed, you stay warm and the interior of the van heats up quickly.

Living in Canada, this is an important detail because we get a lot of cold weather. Van camping has allowed us to start camping as early as May and carry on as late as October!

You can’t do that in a tent.

9. Festivals

The Maritimes are known for their festivals. Many of them take place in rural areas where there are not a lot of options for accommodations.

Nashwaak Music Fest near Stanley, NB, the Annapolis Valley Apple Blossom Festival in Kentville, NS, and the Atlantic Balloon Fiesta in Sussex, NB all come to mind.

A converted mini van means you always have a place to stay without driving for hours to get there.

That being said, rural venues aren’t the only times it comes in handy to have the van. We overnighted on a quiet street in New Orleans walking distance from Bourbon Street!

Vinny VAN Gogh in front of a coffee shop at the Atlantic Balloon Fiesta!

10. Late Night Events

Summer nights are stunning here. It is no wonder many of our favorite events happen after dark.

Fireworks, the Akadi Lumina night walk, and the drive-in movies that get over at 2 am are just a few after dark events that we have enjoyed.

Having Vinny VAN Gogh means that we don’t have to drive for hours to get home after a late night out.

We arrive while it is still daylight, scope out a great location to park “after dark” and head out to the event knowing where we plan to stay afterwards.

The Simple Summary

If you are the adventurous type and have a van that you have been considering converting…do it! You will not regret it, I promise you.

We have been travelling around in Vinny VAN Gogh for almost 2 years now. From 3-week long cross-country road trips to simple riverside camping trips, we have enjoyed every moment in the van.

Although it is converted for camping, we use it less for pure camping and more for touring around. It is so easy to plan to go places that you start looking for opportunities. A new winery? A gallery opening? A fun craft store I want to check out? Yes, please!

Our next planned trip is to a Whoopie Pie festival in Maine, USA. We saw it advertised on a place mat at a family restaurant we stopped at when on our way back from New Mexico at Christmas time. Sounds fun. Why not go?

No reason not to when you have a converted mini-van like Vinny!

Interested in the logistics of traveling in the mini-van like how we shower, what I do about a bathroom, and where we park? Watch for a future post!